SEATTLE – The King County Council and the Seattle City Council gave their final approval Monday to an agreement to build a $490 million basketball and hockey arena, despite the threat of a lawsuit from longshore workers.
The County Council approved it unanimously, while the City Council voted 7-2. Both had previously OK’d different versions of the deal.
“This is a very good financial plan here,” said County Councilman Reagan Dunn, a Republican who earlier had concerns about the deal. “It’s been well thought-through.”
Mayor Mike McGinn called the votes important steps toward bringing the NBA back to Seattle. He and King County Executive Dow Constantine were scheduled to sign the deal today.
San Francisco-based hedge fund manager Chris Hansen is leading a group that wants to build the arena near the existing Safeco Field (Mariners) and CenturyLink Field (Seahawks) with $200 million in public financing. The public investment would be paid back with rent money and admissions taxes from the arena, and if that money falls short, Hansen would be responsible for making up the rest. Other investors include Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and two members of the Nordstrom department store clan.
Seattle’s old NBA team, the SuperSonics, moved to Oklahoma City in 2008 and became the Thunder. It’s been quite a bit longer since Seattle had major-league hockey: The Metropolitans, who won the Stanley Cup in 1917, disbanded in 1924.
Hansen is a Seattle native, an early investor in Facebook and a Sonics fan who approached McGinn last year about building a new arena to attract an NBA team and hopefully an NHL team as well. KeyArena, where the Sonics played, is considered outdated and financially unviable.
Under the deal, the arena proposal will undergo an environmental review that could take a year. The review will also look at whether other sites, including Seattle Center, where KeyArena is, should be considered.
Mitigating some longshore concerns, city attorney Pete Holmes said the deal does not bind the city to use any particular site.
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